Category: Hawaiian Monk Seal

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Endangered Hawaiian monk seal given stronger protection under new Hawaii law

Press Watch, Hawai’i Magazine.com, 9 June 2010

A bill seeking tougher penalties for anyone caught intentionally harming the Hawaiian monk seal, or other endangered Hawaii species, became state law this week.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona signed Senate Bill 2441 into law, making the intentional harassing, harming or killing of a monk seal—or any endangered or threatened Hawaii species—a class C felony. The new Hawaii law extends punishment already imposed by violations of the federal Endangered Species Act, to include a fine of up to $50,000 and five years in prison. […]

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Just published: Monachus Guardian June 2010

Just published: the June 2010 issue of The Monachus Guardian, the biannual journal focusing on the Mediterranean, Hawaiian and Caribbean monk seals.

This issue of The Monachus Guardian brings a special focus to the Mediterranean monk seals shot and dynamited in the Eastern Mediterranean since January. What is actually being done to eliminate the single most serious mortality threat confronting the species?

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CURRENT ISSUE:

Editorial: An epidemic of killings.

Hawaiian News: Seal numbers continue to dive…

Mediterranean News: Greece: Alarming numbers of dead seals… Mauritania: Record births at Cabo Blanco… Turkey: Monk seal deaths in the Turkish Aegean… New population size assessment study in the NE Mediterranean…

Cover Story: Markos’ Case: Trauma, treatment, and reflections, by Emily Joseph.

In Focus I: Monk seal killed by dynamite blast in the Aegean, by Anastasia Miliou.

In Focus II: Nefeli’s rehabilitation: methods, results, and challenges, by Emily Joseph.

Perspectives: The world’s two remaining monk seal species: how many different ways are there of being Critically Endangered? by Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara.

Research: Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus, re-sighted along the Israeli coastline after more than half a century, by Aviad Scheinin, Oz Goffman, Mia Elasar and Dani Kerem…

Recent Publications.

The current and back issues of The Monachus Guardian are also available from the Monk Seal Library <http://www.monachus-guardian.org/library.htm>.

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NMFS Commercial Shark Cull Hawaii

Web Watch, Shark Diver, 16 May 2010

Ocean Associates Inc. is seeking two candidates who will provide professional support services to the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center to conduct fieldwork in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.

This year NMFS will be undertaking efforts to remove predatory Galapagos sharks at Hawaiian monk seal pupping sites at French Frigate Shoals. Assistants will capture sharks using a variety of techniques, mitigate monk seal mortality, collect biological samples and produce written documents in support of monk seal research efforts.
Continue reading “NMFS Commercial Shark Cull Hawaii”

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NOAA expedition to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

NOAA PIFSC, 14 May 2010

The NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette is on a 23-day research expedition in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) to study two highly valued components of Hawaii’s marine ecosystem, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the threatened green turtle. The information gained will support NOAA’s efforts to recover populations of these protected species.

Monk seal research is a primary focus of scientists at NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. Staff of the Center’s Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) annually monitor the status of monk seals at remote locations in the NWHI, conduct research to better understand factors affecting abundance of the seals, and find ways to enhance population recovery. For several months each year, MMRP staff work out of seasonal field camps at the five major monk seal breeding locations in the NWHI. During its current voyage, the Sette will deploy researchers and their equipment at five sites where seasonal camps will be set up: French Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef, and Kure Atoll. The ship will also support seal censuses at 2 other sites, Nihoa Island and Necker Island. No camps will be established at these locations; instead, the Sette will deploy scientists in small boats to conduct work ashore.

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Monk seal found dead at Glass Beach

Media Watch, The Garden Island, 13 May 2010

LIHU‘E — A critically endangered juvenile female Hawaiian monk seal was found dead at Glass Beach near ‘Ele‘ele and Port Allen [Kauai] on May 6, but the cause of death has not been determined, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Coordinator Jeff Walters.

A necropsy was performed and results are still pending, said NOAA’s Marine Mammal Response Coordinator David Schofield. With tissue samples sent “throughout the country” it could take “several weeks to several months” to ascertain what happened to her, Schofield said. […]

“It’s sad whenever we lose a seal under any circumstances, but to lose a juvenile female, with her future breeding potential, is especially tragic,” said Kaua‘i Monk Seal Watch Program Projects Coordinator Timothy Robinson. […]

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